Back in my academic past, I co-wrote a number of articles and conference papers with my husband, Professor Brad Lewis. Since I delved into the world of fiction (and motherhood) our joint projects have dwindled. So it was really fun to team up with Brad again and write this new piece for The Huffington Post entitled “Literary RX: Can Books Help in a Health Care Crisis?”
Here’s how the piece starts out:
The U.S health care crisis isn’t just a crisis in finances (how are we going to pay for it). Neither is it merely a crisis in administration (how are we going to distribute it). The health care crisis is also a cultural crisis. It is a crisis of how we think about health, illness and healing in our society.
As hard as it may be to believe, or to swallow, literature may offer an Rx for this cultural crisis. Fiction, poetry, and memoirs can help us think deeply and differently about sickness and suffering, healing and cures. And if we begin to think deeply and differently about these things, new and imaginative (and less costly) ways for reforming health care may come to light…
Click on over to The Huffington post to read the rest.
